If you are having difficulty accessing course readings which your instructor has put on electronic reserve, please review the following hints.

Opening Documents

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader before attempting to open a specific reading.
  2. Try downloading a more recent version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader from http://get.adobe.com/reader/, or consult your school's computing support help desk.
  3. Check to see if your ISP opens .pdf files effectively.
  4. If you have already attempted to download a document unsuccessfully, clear your browser's disk cache. To do this:

    Firefox: From the History menu, select Clear Recent History. From the Time range to clear: drop-down menu, select the desired range; to clear your entire cache, select Everything. Next to "Details", click the down arrow to choose which elements of the history to clear; to clear your entire cache, select all items.

    Chrome: At the top right, click More Tools, then click Clear browsing data. At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time. Next to "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files," check the boxes. Click Clear data.
  5. Close any unnecessary programs to enhance processing speed.

Printing

  1. Try saving the file to a USB drive or to your hard drive before printing. To do this, display the document, then click on the disk icon in the Adobe Acrobat reader, select the location and name of the file, then click on Save as.
  2. Try printing fewer pages at once. To do this, click on the File menu, select Print. In the Print Range box select Pages from... to, and enter a range of two or three pages, then click OK (i.e. Pages from 2 to 5, then OK). This should reduce the load on your printer, and allow it to process faster.

If you are still having trouble, please contact us with specific information about the problem you are having. Include information about the instructor, course, and files you are attempting to access, as well as whether you are on or off campus.